1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for producing singlet oxygen as well as to a method for producing a surface coated with a dye for such a device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a device for producing singlet oxygen is known from WO 97/29044 A1. With this apparatus, a chamber is formed having two boundary surfaces, one of these surfaces being transparent, whereas the other surface is covered by a coating made from a dye excitable by light radiation. This surface coated with the dye is irradiated with light from a light source disposed adjacent to the transparent surface. The light source is preferably a halogen lamp, and the transparent surface filters out a certain part of the radiation, such that a radiation having a predetermined frequency spectrum is obtained. This light radiation acts upon the dye disposed on the surface coated with the dye, and the oxygen flowing over this surface is brought into an excited condition for forming singlet oxygen. The dye coating is applied by a kinetic, thermal or chemical method on a finely roughened surface or a microporous surface. The efficiency of this known apparatus is only low, and the production of the dye coated surface is quite expensive, and further, large amounts of heat are produced by the use of the halogen lamp.
From the U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,837, it is further known to deposit on a substrate several layers of polycrystalline organic dye, for instance trypaflavine, eosin or tetracene. Also in this case the production of the surface covered with dye is quite expensive.